"Mother, your daughter is married," No, that sounded too formal.
"Mommy, your daughter has a hubby now," Now she was being too casual. This was not the sort of news you broke by calling the man you'd married two days prior 'hubby'. The hubby title was for couple in the sickeningly sweet phase of their relationship. Not for people like her.
"Mom, I have a husband now," Not matter how she tried to phrase it. Rose had yet to find the words that would make her mother not want to kill her when she told the truth. Finally deciding to just do it, she let go of the rose she was holding, sweeping aside all the thorns she'd cut from it. Workspace cleared, she pulled out her phone and video called her mother. It rang a few times before her mother's face came into view. The light brown eyes that Rose had inherited sparkling with joy.
"Rose, this is a pleasant surprise," She said, eyes briefly flicking to something out of sight.
"I did not expect to hear from you for at least another two days," Rose was cursing the fact that she was always so punctual when it came to weekly calls with her mother. Why could she have not been more spontaneous.
"Hey, mom," She bit her lip, her earlier rehearsals on how she would tell her mother failing her. On her end her mother was giving her a critical look.
"Alright, spill, what is going on?" She asked and Rose dove right in.
"Mom, I am married," There was silence on the other end of the video. Her mother frozen in place. For a moment, Rose was worried that there were connection problems. Then her mom shifted, head thrown back as she laughed, her shoulders shaking.
"Oh, my sweet Rose, I was so worried after you broke up with that useless Rex. But seems I should not have been concerned. If you can joke like that, then you are definitely fine," Rather than reply and try to convince her mother, she stayed quiet, simply staring.
Her mother's laughing fit ended soon after, all the mirth leaving the older woman's face the longer they stared at each other.
"Rosalind Adamos, how could you?!" The shriek made Rose wince, and she turned the volume down a bit.
"I raised you better than this, how dare you tie yourself to a man who does not respect you,"
"Here I thought you had some sense, as it turns out you-"
"It's not Rex mom, it is someone else," That cut off her mother's rant before it could gain momentum, and Rose breathed a sigh of relief, her mother's lectures were legendary.
"Who is it?" Her mom asked, looking torn between anger and curiosity.
"The ex fiancé of the woman, Rex cheated on me with," There was silence, her mom clearly waiting for her to take it all back and say she was joking…Rose stayed quiet.
"Does my son-in-law have a name?" She finally asked, still looking like she did not believe it.
"Nathaniel. Nathaniel Kiriakis," She carefully left out the part where he was beyond loaded.
"Why?" Her mom asked, voice small, and Rose hated herself for the lie she was about to tell.
"He was there that night, both of us found out at the same time,"
"We have been meeting up since then, mostly to offer each other support,"
"But then the marriage registration came up, and neither of us could bear the thought of remaining single any longer, "
"Rather than cancel we decided to just take the chance and marry each other. It's better than being alone right," She felt her eyes begin to sting at the heartbroken look her mother was giving.
"Oh, Rosie," She breathed, a hand to her lips.
"I won't say I am happy about this, but it is your choice and I support you. I just hope that in doing this, you haven't cheated yourself out of a chance to find happiness," It was more understanding than Rose had been expecting.
"Thank you, mom," She said, letting her tears fall.
"Send me a picture, and be sure to bring to Vasilio soon, I want to meet him in person," The line went dead, and Rose found herself taking a few minutes to cry. Feeling like the worst daughter in the world.
Lili, was not as subdued in her reaction as her mother had been.
"You're what!" She screamed into the phone, before hastily apologizing to someone in the background. Her firm was currently busy with a big case, so she was practically chained to her office.
"Did he take advantage of you, is he forcing you. If he did I'll sue the pants off of him and throw him in jail," Lili threatened, her voice lower than before, obviously mindful of her co-workers.
"He didn't take advantage of me Lili, we just both decided we were not going to have better luck elsewhere after our experiences with our exes,"
Lili practically had steam coming out of her ears.
"Give me a name, I'll do a background check," Lili said, and Rose couldn't help but smile at her friend's protective nature.
"You already know him Lili, it's Nathaniel Kiriakis," Lili fell back against her chair, stunned.
"At least I don't have to worry about him robbing you blind," Her friend said, and Rose smiled. That was as close to acceptance as Lili was going to give.
The moment the call ended, Rose's smile fell. It was done, the two people she cared most about in the world believed her lie. There was no turning back now. Wiping her tears, she grabbed her log book. Most of her orders for the week, were ready, but it would not hurt to double check.
She had just finished going through the list, when the door bell jingle, announcing a new arrival.
Customer service smile in place, she looked up, only to have the expression freeze in place when she saw who it was.
Her husband strode up to the counter, looking all types of gorgeous in a pinstripe suit.
"I need your help,"